avoidance Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun deliberately avoiding; keeping away from or preventing from happening
    turning away; shunning; dodging.

WordNet

A*void"ance noun
Definitions
  1. The act of annulling; annulment.
  2. The act of becoming vacant, or the state of being vacant; -- specifically used for the state of a benefice becoming void by the death, deprivation, or resignation of the incumbent.
    Wolsey, . . . on every avoidance of St. Peter's chair, was sitting down therein, when suddenly some one or other clapped in before him. Fuller.
  3. A dismissing or a quitting; removal; withdrawal.
  4. The act of avoiding or shunning; keeping clear of. "The avoidance of pain." Beattie.
  5. The courts by which anything is carried off.
    Avoidances and drainings of water. Bacon.

Webster 1913